OKEHAMPTON Beekeepers’ fifth meeting of the winter season was a presentation entitled “Grassland for Bees” delivered by Jerry Tallowin.

Jerry has been working on a Rothamsted Research project at North Wyke, near North Tawton, to investigate properties of different pasture seed mixtures with the aim of developing grazing which combines biodiversity and support for a wide range of pollinators with high levels of productivity to deliver economic viability to the farmer.

This research has been undertaken on the North Wyke farm platform ( http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/farmplatform ) which provides a facility for hydrologically isolating areas of farmland into separate parcels to support comparative analysis.

The talk attracted a larger than average attendance. Marian, our chair had suggested that beekeepers “bring a farmer too” and with about 40 filling Whiddon Down Village Hall, this advice had obviously been heeded!

Jerry began his talk, sounding a note of caution. The funding for this type of research post-Brexit may be uncertain as biodiversity is a lower government priority than other ecological concerns such as greenhouse gas emissions.

Land areas potentially affected by research into grazing are however enormous, around seven million hectares or 38 per cent of the land area of the UK.

Cattle at North Wyke have been observed to ignore grass-only swards, running past this to get to grass mix including clover and herbs. There are additionally nutritional benefits for the human consumer. Meat from stock fed on meadow pasture contains higher vitamin E content than that produced by grain fed stock.

The meat is bright red and also has a longer shelf life than the grain fed equivalent. So the benefits of wildflower meadows extend beyond wins for biodiversity and the environment, to improved animal health and reduced need for medication, reduced (or zero) fertiliser usage and finally a better end product in meat for the supermarket and the consumer.

Jerry completed his talk, inviting questions from the audience. These were numerous and demonstrated that many attending were very well informed on grassland management, knowledge outside the normal scope of beekeeping!

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 9. This session, not to be missed will be a talk by Clare Densley on the subject of “Small Scale Queen Rearing”.

Some of us attended Clare’s queen rearing course at Buckfast last summer and this promises to be an interesting and informative session, ideally timed for the start of the beekeeping year.

Will Pyne